The present invention relates to a vehicle door.
Vehicles are known to be fitted with doors comprising an inner and outer metal sheet clinched and welded together to form a frame, the upper portion of which defines a window frame fitted with a window mounted in sliding manner between the two sheets, and the lower portion of which defines a frame or a box body closed inwardly and outwardly by the lower portions of said two sheets. The lower portion of the outer sheet defines the outside of the door, while the lower portion of the inner sheet presents a number of holes enabling insertion, inside the box body, of all the functional components on the door (locks, window regulators, etc.) which are connected to the inner sheet itself. Once the functional components are assembled, the lower portion of the inner sheet is fitted with a finish panel, usually formed from synthetic material and incorporating finish elements, such as armrests, handles, etc.
In recent times, mainly for the purpose of speeding up on-line assembly, testing and setup, the lower portion of the inner sheet, which was formerly an integral part of the door structure, has been replaced by a preassembled panel connected by means of screws or similar removable fasteners, and fitted with the window regulating and guide devices and the door locking devices.
The load-bearing structure of the lower portion of a door of the aforementioned type therefore consists merely of an outer sheet and an inner sheet clinched and welded peripherally to the outer sheet and having an opening substantially extending over the entire lower portion of the door. On such a door, the opening formed in the lower portion of the inner sheet is partially closed by the preassembled panel connected to the inner panel, while the inner contour of the door is again defined by the finish panel.
Though satisfactory in many respects, known doors of the aforementioned type present a number of drawbacks both technically and economically.
In fact, formation of the opening in the inner sheet for assembling the preassembled panel seriously reduces the torsional resistance of the load-bearing structure, with the result that high-cost automatic handling equipment must be provided at the automatic assembly and welding stages. Moreover, the presence of the preassembled panel does not exclude the presence of the interior finish panel which, comprising members for operating the devices on the preassembled panel, must be connected functionally to the same on the assembly line.